Car-trnloabek



B. N. DAVIS.

CAR uNLoAnEH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. T, 1918.

Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANVouRPM C0.. WASHINGTON. D, c.

B. N. DAVIS.

CAR UNLOADER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7, IsI.

Patemed sept. 30,1919.

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W4 www??? B. N. DAVIS.

CAR UNLOADER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7. 19m.

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BEMISS N. DAVIS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

CAR-UNLOADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

Application filed February 7, 1918. Serial No. 215,767.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BEMiss N. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State ofLouisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Unloaders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to unloading machinery for gondola cars and othervehicles, the object being to provide a power device or apparatus withwhich the unloading of a car provided with traps in its bottom and ladenwith coal, grain, earth, broken stone or other similar material in bulk1can be accomplished with despatch.

The improved apparatus consists essentially of a bridge-like structureunder which the loaded car is to be run and its load acted upon by ashovel carried by an overhead truck or carriage, and controlled by meansof cables moved by one or more engines or motors.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, conventionally illustrated, of thecompletedevice;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same similarly illustrated;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the upper end of the bridge structure;

Fig. 4 is a plan of the carriage or truck;

Fig. 5 isa side elevation of the carriage or truck;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the shovel;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the shovel; and

Fig. 8 is a section of the shovel on line mof Fig. 7

The frame-Work or structure in which the working `parts of the deviceare mounted and operated is a bridge-like affair consist'- ing of twoupright frames A and A, respectively, spaced apart to provide for arailway track or other roadway between them7 in which the car or othervehicle B may stand while being unloaded. Each of these structures orframes consists of any lines a and these are shown anchored in concretepiers ZJ. The top of each frame A and A carries overhanging portions ceX- tending toward each other but separated by a space which extendsfrom end to end of the structure. Fig. 3 shows the upper end of thisstructure in detail, and it illustrates a track-rail 0l carried lby eachof the structures and together forming a longitudinal track running thelength of the structure and along which a truck or carriage is to bemoved. This truck or carriage is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 andconsists of a frame or body F hav-ing two axles each carrying flangedwheels 7 adapted to run upon the rails d. Suitably mounted in bearingsin this truck are two parallel transverse shafts g and h, respectively,the former carrying a pinion g located in the central plane of the truckand two idlers g3 each' side of the pinion, and also carrying a gearwheel g2 at one end whichV meshes with pinion k2 on the end of shaft h.Shaft t carries a flanged drum 7L located at the middle line of thetruck. l y

This truck or carriage which can be moved to any point along the track dby means hereinafter referred to, carries a shovel with which theunloading is accomplished. This shovel is illustrated in Figs. 67 and 8in detail and is conventionally indicated in full and dotted lines inFigs. 1 and 2 by the letter I. rIhe shovel comprises a blade i and ahandle z", the parts being built up of channels and T-bars rivetedtogether inV accordance with best engineering practice to affordstrength and proper weight for the work in hand. The handle incrosssection is substantially square as seen in Fig. 8, two of the sidesbeing formed by channel ironsA i2 facing each other and separated toform a vertical space s between them. Within this space and attached toone of the channel bars is a vertical rack j;

the upper and lower ends of the channels are secured together by crossplates 4, whilev` the space between the channels is entirely open fromend to end of the handle. The handle of the shovel extends up through anopeningI in the body of the truck with the horizontal shaft g thereinpassing through the space 3 in the handle and with the pinion g on theshaft engaging with the rack y' of the shovel handle and the idlers g3bearing upon the inner faces of the handle and holding the gear and rackin engagement. It will be seen, therefore, that by rotating the piniong, the shovel will be raised or lowered vertically and that in anyposition to which it may have been adj usted, the shovel is free toswing upon a pivot formed by the engaging teeth of the rack and pinion.

rlhe truck or carriage is movable along the overhead rails Z by means ofa cable Z or sprocket chain attached to the truck and passing oversheaves Z and Z2 at each end of the structure, the slieave Z2 being onthe same shaft with a worm gear driven by a reversible engine L; theworm and gear affording a lock to hold the truck at any point to whichit may have been moved. The shovel z' is lowered by gravity and elevatedby power supplied by a second engine M. A cable 0 runs from one ofthedrunis of VVKthe engine over a sheave o atone end of the structure,thence to the truck where it is wound upon the drinn Zi. Pulling uponthis cable 'by the engine rotates shaft Zi, pinion h2, gear g2 and thepinion g', and the latter engaging with the rack in the shovel handlelifts the shovel. Releasing the cable at the drum of the engine allowsthe shovel to fall by its own weight. To the front and back faces of theshovel are attached two other cables, respectively, o and g which leadover suitable guide pulleys at'Y the respective ends of the structure totwo other drums of the engine M. By causing the engine to wind up thecable on one ofV mid position under the structure, as shown i in Fig. l.YIf the contents of the car does not immediately start to flow throughthe openings, the truck is moved along the track until the shovel ispoised directly above the pocket, whereupon it is allowedV to suddenlydrop upon the load to start the flow. If the load is frozen or for anyreason does not at once commence to flow out, the shovel can be raisedand dropped repeatedly until the fiow is free. When the middle portionof the load has emptied, the truck is moved toward one end of the carwhere the shovel is allowed to drop and bury itself in the load and isthen dragged toward the center of the car to push the load toward theopening. This is repeated until the contents of the` car at one end hasbeen emptied, whereupon the truck is shifted to bring the shovel overthe opposite end of thecar where thef saine operations are repeated.Skilful op-V erators at thetwo engines can in this manner very quicklyunload a gondola car.

It will be understood that other mechanism for raising and lowering theshovel may be used in place ofthe pinion and rack described withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.V Y

I claim: Y Y Y Y 1. An unloader for a car having openings in its Yfloor,comprising a structure provided with an overhead track, a carriageadapted? 2. An unloader for a car havingopenings Y in its oor,comprising a structure having an overhead track, a carriage adjustablealong said track, a winding drum and pinion mounted on said carriage andgeared together, a shovel having a two-faced blade and handle inalinement with one another and provided with a rack in engagement withsaid pinion, whereby said shovel mayV be raised and lowered, and swungto and fro to permit the shovel whileso rocked to sweep the contents ofthe car through its floor openings lfrom both ends of the car.

3. A car unloader comprising a carriage adapted to move along a track, ashovel suspended upon said vcarriage' and having a handle provided Vwitha longitudinal passage, a rack extending along one side of said passage,a shaft carried by said carriage and extending through the passage inthe handle, a pinion on said shaft engaging said rack, and idlers onsaid shaft for guiding said handle in its pivotal movement about saidshaft. Y

4. Anv unloader for a car having openings in its floor, comprising astructure provided with an overhead track extendingY lengthwise of thecar, a carriage on said track, a shovel carried vby the carriage andmounted for pivotal movementrrelative to Vthe carriage, and means forVpositively swinging the shovel in both directions about its pivotalaxis.

5. An unloader for a oar having` openings in its floor, comprising` astructure provided With an overhead track, extending lengthwise of theoar, a carriage on said track, a shovel carried by the carriage andmounted for both pivotal and vertically reciprocatory movement relativeto the cai'- 10 riage, means for imparting reoipiocatory BEMIss N.DAVIS.

Witnesses ROY VILLS, F. EISLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. v

